(235+)One of the most common types of claims we deal with at Gibbons & Crichton, Personal Injury & Accident Lawyers, are slip-and-fall accidents. For example, if you are shopping at a local supermarket, slip on a puddle of liquid that is in the aisle, and fall to the ground, that is a slip-and-fall accident. While such falls may not sound that serious, in practice people often sustain serious–and in some cases life-threatening–injuries such as hip fractures, broken legs, and even traumatic brain injuries.
Slip-and-fall accidents fall within a broader category of Pennsylvania personal injury law known as premises liability. Essentially, premises liability addresses a property owner’s responsibility for accidents that occur on their property. Contrary to what you might think, the property owner is not automatically responsible for every slip-and-fall accident that may occur on their premises. Instead, Pennsylvania premises liability laws require a court to look at several factors when determining financial responsibility for a slip-and-fall.
What Is the Legal Status of the Slip-and-Fall Victim?
The first consideration is the “status” of the person who was injured in the slip-and-fall accident. In this context, status isn’t a reference to the person’s class, wealth, or social standing. Rather, it is their status as a person on someone else’s property. In premises liability, status determines the property owner’s legal duty of care concerning the injured person.
If you are on someone else’s property, you generally fall into one of three categories: trespassers, licensees, or invitees. You are probably familiar with the term trespasser already. This is someone who enters or remains on someone else’s property without the owner’s consent.
But what is a licensee or an invitee? Here, the distinction is not always immediately obvious. Both licensees and invitees describe persons who are allowed to enter or remain on someone else’s property with the owner’s consent. The key difference is that a licensee is on the property for their purposes, while an invitee is there for some public purpose.
Here is a simple illustration. If you visit someone at their home as a social guest, you are generally considered a licensee, as you are there for your benefit. But if you visit a store or park that is open to the public, you are an invitee.
Premises Liability and the Duty of Care in Philadelphia Slip and Fall Accidents
A slip-and-fall accident victim’s status largely determines the duty of care they are owed by the property owner under Pennsylvania premises liability laws. As a general rule, a property owner is never required to guarantee the safety of everyone who visits their property, whether they are a trespasser, licensee, or invitee. That said, the owner does have a “sliding scale” of responsibility to keep the premises in reasonably safe condition based on a visitor’s status, which breaks down as follows:
- Invitees: A Philadelphia property owner owes the highest duty of care towards invitees. For example, a store or other building open to the public must be kept in reasonably safe condition. This means that the property owner must not only keep the premises free of known safety hazards that could lead to a slip-and-fall accident–the owner must also be proactive in regularly inspecting their property to identify problems in advance.
- Licensees: Concerning a licensee, such as a social guest visiting private property, the owner does not have to go as far as conducting regular inspections of their premises. However the owner must still warn the licensee of any known hazards, which are not open and obvious, that could lead to a slip-and-fall accident.
- Trespassers: In most cases, a property owner has no duty to warn a trespasser of any potential slip-and-fall hazards on their property. The law only requires that the owner not take steps to intentionally injure a trespasser. In some circumstances, however, an owner may be liable if they know trespassers regularly enter the property, in which case the owner may need to provide a warning of any serious hazard.
Actual vs. Constructive Notice in Philadelphia Slip-and-Fall Cases
In any premises liability claim, the plaintiff–e.g., the person injured in a slip-and-fall accident–has the burden of establishing the defendant’s negligence. In slip-and-fall cases, this is usually accomplished by proving the property owner had actual or constructive notice of the hazard that caused the accident.
Actual notice means just that: The owner knew there was a safety hazard and took insufficient steps to remedy the problem.
Constructive knowledge is a bit trickier. It refers to situations where the owner should have known there was a problem through the exercise of reasonable efforts. In the case of a retail store, for example, management should have a policy in place of regularly inspecting any publicly accessible areas of the property to identify potential slip-and-fall hazards. In other words, the store cannot refuse to conduct such inspections and later claim they did not know there was a problem.
Some of the more common hazards that property owners need to look out for include:
- slippery and wet floors;
- uneven walking surfaces, such as cracked sidewalks in front of a store;
- inadequate lighting;
- weather-related hazards, including snow and ice accumulation during the winter;
- loose carpeting, mats, rugs, and floor tiles;
- loose merchandise on shelves; and
- loose steps and broken handrails in stairwells.
Contact Our Philadelphia Slip-and-Fall Lawyers Today
If you are injured in a slip-and-fall accident, particularly on commercial property, the landowner’s insurance company will likely become involved and possibly offer you a settlement to avoid litigation. Not surprisingly, the insurance adjuster’s goal is to minimize their company’s exposure as opposed to making sure that you receive full compensation for your injuries. If you want someone to advocate on your behalf, you need to work with a qualified Philadelphia premises liability attorney who specializes in handling slip-and-fall accident claims.
The team at Gibbons & Crichton, Personal Injury & Accident Lawyers, will be happy to sit down with you and review your slip-and-fall accident claim. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
